Special Pleading
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
The science of pleading. The allegation of special or new matter to avoid the effect of the previous allegations of the opposite party, as distinguished from a direct denial of matter previously alleged on the opposite side. Gould, PI. c.
1, § 18; 3 Wheat. (U. S.) 246; Comyn, Dig. "Pleader" (E 15).